Dubai ends woman’s ordeal with daughter’s reunion

Dubai got a fresh boost to its human rights record when it succeeded in ending a Syrian mother’s eight-month ordeal by reuniting the woman with her eight-year-old daughter in an emotional reunion reminiscent of the famous US TV episode “without a trace.”

The woman, feeling her ex-husband had kidnapped the little girl, flew to Turkey then to Egypt before landing in Dubai, where she staged a sit-in at the airport, refusing to leave back to Turkey unless she is re-united with her daughter.

Airport authorities had to call the police when the woman went into a hysterical fit, refusing to board the flight back to Istanbul after she was denied visa into the UAE.

Police allowed the human rights administration to get involved in the case and asked immigration authorities to grant the woman’s a temporary visa.

“She said she had information her ex-husband lives in the UAE and that he had taken their daughter although she had been granted custody of her…she accused him of kidnapping the girl,” the administration’s director Brigadier Mohammed Al Murr said.

He said the administration decided to send major Isac Al Mazmi to talk to the woman in a bid to resolve her problem at the airport.

Mazmi said the woman told him that she had travelled through Syria and Turkey before ending up in Egypt, where she was told her husband had not entered the country.

He said ensuing contacts revealed that the woman’s husband lives in Ras Al Khaimah and that he had brought his daughter to live with him.

“We obtained a court order banning the daughter from travelling so we can tackle the problem…we then summoned the father in coordination with Ras Al Khaimah authorities and asked him to bring his daughter with him,” he said.

“We placed them in separate rooms and asked the daughter whether she wanted to live with her father or mother…she said she loves her father but she wants to live with her mother….we then reunited them and it was a very emotional scene…the little girl rushed and threw herself at her mother, who kept hugging her and crying.”

Mazmi said the father agreed to return his daughter to her mother provided she drops kidnap charges against him and allows him to see his daughter whenever he wants.

“He also asked that his ex-wife will not travel with her daughter to any other country except Turkey and Syria and that she looks after her…the woman agreed to all his conditions and the girl was back to her mother…we then had two tickets issued for the mother and her daughter and they travelled back to their home country—Syria.”